Spiced Apple Pear Loaf
Perfect for apple season, this apple pear loaf is flavourful, easy to make and oh so yummy. This might be your new favourite fall snack, brunch or dessert!
Quick Look: Apple Pear Loaf
- ⏰ Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Time: 55 minutes
- ⏳ Ready In: 1 hour and 10 minutes
- 🥦 Makes: 1 loaf (about 12 slices)
- 🍽️ Calories: 210 per slice
- 📖 Dietary info: healthy, fall recipe, snack recipe, baked good
- ⭐️ Why you'll love it: perfect for apple season, this loaf is easy to make, healthy, and delicious. Perfect to meal prep and enjoy all week, or make for brunch.
SUMMARIZE & SAVE THIS CONTENT ON
I live on an apple orchard, and in September and October I have more apples than I know what to do with. My neighbour grows pears, and he dropped some of his pears off, so this recipe was made out of necessity since I had too much fruit in the house to eat! I'm also not a huge fan of pie, so it wasn't going to be an apple pie that I made. I love the flavours of apple pie, but there's just something about it that I don't love. So I created this loaf recipe that combines all the flavours of fall and pie, but is a quick bread. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
If you're looking for more recipes that feature apples, be sure to check out my carrot apple soup, and my healthy fall bowls.
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Seasonal: perfect for fall and prime apple season. It's a delicious and creative way to use up extra apples.
- Flavourful: this loaf really screams fall with the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. It's like all the flavours of an apple pie but in loaf form (for those people *like me* who don't love pie).
- A nice addition to any meal: you can serve this with any meal and people will be happy. Breakfast with some yogurt or dessert with some applesauce or whipped cream. It would make a really nice thing to bring if you're heading to someone's house.
Ingredients You'll Need
Full ingredient measurements & instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Apple: I use Honeycrisp because that's often what I have on hand. Honeycrisp are juicy and sweet and hold their texture when baked, so it is a good one to bake with. But use whatever you have.
- Pear: use any variety you like or have, but it should be very ripe and juicy.
Additions & Substitutions
- Spices: you could get creative with your spice choices. I went with cinnamon and nutmeg, but if you want to use ground cloves or cardamom, that might be nice too.
- Only apples: if you don't have pears on hand, you could make this recipe with apples only. Fun fact: apples and pears are interchangeable in recipes. So if you only have apples, use all apples. If you only have pears, use only pears.
- Make it vegan: while I haven't tried it, you might be able to make this recipe vegan. Use vegan butter instead of regular butter, and a flax egg instead of an egg egg.
- Make it gluten free: I haven't tried it, but you could try using gluten free flour.
How to Make Apple Pear Loaf
- Step 1: To a medium bowl, add diced apple, pear, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Toss to combine, and set aside.
- Step 2: To a small bowl, add flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Mix to combine. Set aside.
- Step 3: In a large bowl, add melted butter, egg, vanilla, and sugar. Use a spatula to combine.
- Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir to combine. It will be quite dry - don't worry.
- Step 5: Add ½ cup of the apple pear mixture to the bottom of a parchment lined loaf pan.
- Step 6: Add the remaining apple pear mixture to the batter, and combine well. If the batter is too dry to work with, you can add a splash of apple juice/cider.
- Step 7: Transfer the batter to the loaf pan.
- Step 8: Bake at 350F for 55-65 minutes or until golden brown, and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.
- Step 9: Once cooled, flip over, remove the parchment paper and the beautifully spiced fruit is on top.
- Step 10: Slice and serve!
Spiced Apple Pear Loaf FAQs
Yes! Apples and pears are interchangeable in recipes, so feel free to use whatever you have on hand. A combination of the two adds different flavours.
Honeycrisp, Gala, or Cortland work best. They hold their shape when baked, so you'll still have a little texture in the final product.
Use ripe or overly ripe pears. They will release moisture once the sugar and spices are added to them, and will add additional liquid to the batter. Additionally, if you find the batter too dry, you could add a splash of apple juice or apple cider. Also, be sure not to over bake the loaf. This will dry it out.
It's delicious on it's own, but pairs well with a coffee or tea. Additionally, fresh from the oven, a smear of butter or a nut butter might be amazing!
I like to leave the skins on for more fibre and a rustic vibe. If you don't tolerate skins, or you want to peel them, go right ahead! It will turn out just as good.
More Fall Recipes You'll Love
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Spiced Apple Pear Loaf
Equipment
- 1 Loaf pan 9x5
Ingredients
Fruit
- 2 ½ cups apple & pear, diced, skin on about 1 ¼ cup each
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
Batter
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup butter, unsalted, melted
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350℉.
- Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and line it with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, add your diced apple and pear. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Toss to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the egg, vanilla, sugar and melted butter.
- In a separate medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, and combine until everything is just combined. Do not over mix. It will seem dry, but that's okay, the fruit is going to add more liquid.
- Add ½ cup of your apple pear mix to the bottom of your loaf pan. Spread it out so it covers the bottom of the pan.
- Add the remaining apple pear mix (and all the juices) to the batter. Combine well. If the batter seems too dry, you can add a splash of apple cider or apple juice.Add this batter to the loaf pan, on top of the apple and pears on the bottom.
- Use a spoon or small offset spatula to spread the batter in the loaf pan. Make sure it reaches all the corners.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until golden brown on top and knife/toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool for at least 10 minutes in the loaf pan.
- Remove from the loaf pan, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cool, flip over, and remove the parchment paper so the bottom is now the top, and the beautifully spiced fruit is on the top.
- Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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If we haven’t met yet, hi hello! I’m Bailey, a Registered Dietitian and recipe creator. I offer 1:1 nutrition coaching and cooking classes to help make healthy eating easier. On my blog you can find easy, seasonal, vegetarian recipes! If you try this recipe (or any of my other recipes), leave me a comment with your thoughts!
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Great recipe. However, I did decrease the amount of sugar and added a pitch of cloves. Perfection!
Yum! Cloves would make a great addition! So glad you tried it and enjoyed it!
The perfect recipe for fall! I love making this recipe when apples are in season during the fall. If you try this recipe, let me know!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
It should keep for about 3-4 days! If it doesn't get eaten within the first 2 days, I usually wrap it in plastic, and keep it in the fridge.
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!
Thank you! It's got all the perfect fall flavours in one!
I made this for my family brunch. It was delicious.
I'm so glad you tried the recipe and enjoyed it!